Ka-pi96 said:
sundin13 said:
It is functionally impossible to live a life where your actions are not in some part dictated by the law.
If you wish to drive a car, you have to wear your seatbelt, have your car inspected, follow the speed limit and follow traffic signs. Alternately, you could walk, but there are laws which dictate where you can walk and when you cross the street, and laws which dictate how you have to be dressed and which restrict you from doing multiple things from drinking alcohol and carrying firearms to playing music too loudly and spitting on the sidewalk. Now lets say you are walking and an officer comes up to you. There are laws which force you to comply with their lawful orders. Then you go into a store to buy some food and you are assaulted by dozens of laws about how you must conduct yourself...
|
How many of those things are they going to put a gun to your head and force you to do?
They're not gonna send their goon squad to break into your house, bundle you into a car and throw you into jail, or even kill you, because you didn't wear a seatbelt. They will if you refuse to join their "army" though.
|
If you are breaking the law in public, consequences aren't unlikely and these consequences aren't tremendously distinct from consequences for failing to vote, for example. The penalty for spitting on the sidewalk in Massachusetts is $20. The penalty for failing to vote in Australia is $20.
No one is going to be shot over not voting.
As for compulsory military service, I do not agree with it, however your objections are both ridiculous and hyperbolic. In many countries with compulsory military service, there are ways to opt out based on religion, or you can choose to instead do civil service or serve in a unarmed role. The penalty for failure to do any of these options is one year in prison in Finland, however, their police force tends to kill one or fewer people per year so worrying about roving assassination squads is fairly hilarious, especially when you consider that Americans are killed at about 40times that rate (by population).
Actually, one other example of the law forcing you to do something, is our education system in the US. Truancy is illegal in most states and often come with fines, which, if left unpaid, will result in jail time for the parents. The child can also be sentenced to house arrest, compulsory community service, or a revoked driver's license.